Heart Shaped Box
by Phantom-Phreak-454
Summary: In the year 2020, Evelyn Lilkinson works for the SOMDA - Study for Mental Disorders Agency. When the agency brings the Phantom of the Opera in to be studied, what will happen to this quiet, gentle girl? R & R, please and thanks!
1. Prologue

**Heart Shaped Box**

_Epilogue_

I felt the sharp sting in my neck before I heard them intruding. A terrifying numbness was settling into my arms, paralyzing me, but I forced myself up from the bench and swung around like a madman in chains. I think that's what they think I am. A madman. I can't be certain anymore... I've lost track of almost everything.

An angry roar left my lips, and my hips and thighs smashed into the table, sending it spiraling to the floor. Another sharp sting in the neck. My vision was turning foggy, my mind was slowing down... I didn't like not being able to think. The coldness seeping into my body was not allowing me to think, though. Three men were holding my arms now, and I was slowly sinking to the floor... I felt the cold stone bump into my knees and I collapsed, allowing the men to catch me as I fell.

"Into the tram with you, sir..."

What? What's a... tram? I wanted to ask the question, anger thick on my tongue, but I couldn't. My tongue was too swollen with the numbness, never mind the anger. My head bobbed and I swayed a few inches from the floor, held up by the net of arms. My eyes drifted shut, but I felt the floor move further away, and the swaying of the arms holding me increase.

We were moving away now, and then, they were loading me into something... Straps held me back, buckling me down to the comfortable seat... I heard a soft shushing sound, and a smooth, almost delightful female voice whisper, "I'm sorry." into my ear. And then...

Darkness.

**((Okay, so I realize I am a terrible, terrible author for not finishing my other stories. But this one hit me so hard, that I almost staggered back from my own genius. I'll try to get a few more chapters in for the others, but for now... I'm going to TRY to continue with this.**

**Enjoy!**

**PhantomPhreak))**


	2. Man in a Box

**Chapter Two - Man in a Box**

White.

Sheer white. White unlike anything I had ever seen. Whiter than the ivory of piano keys. Whiter than Christine's wedding gown. A burning white. A glowing white.

My breath hitched in my throat for a split second. It came back in a soft _whoosh_ sound, startling me. I'd never heard that sound before. Again, I breathed in - a nice, slow, deep breath.

_Whoosh... _

What on Earth was going on? I tried to lift my arms to shield my eyes from the burning white. I soon came to realize they were strapped tightly around my body, held to my torso by some strange, thick and terrifyingly strong white cotton. White. Why was everything white? It was so... sterile.

I heard the voices next.

"_Mumble mumble, mumble _insane. _Mumble, mumble mumble..._"

Another voice, higher in pitch, sounded like it was arguing back.

"_Mumble mumble, mumble mumble mumble _of course not! _Mumble mumble mumble_?"

I try to twist my neck around, to look at the door that has now swung open behind my head. I am lying on a flat bed, hard and uncomfortable, restrained by this horrid piece of clothing... I suck in another breath, hear the soft hiss of air, and for a second, I close my eyes. Surely, I'm dreaming. Surely, there isn't some sort of strange cap over my mouth with a long tube, feeding me some sort of strange, sweet tasting air. Surely, I'm not being restrained against a table, and tied together by some sort of odd, sweltering sweater.

Automatically, my voice hisses from the cap thing over my mouth; I need water soon.

"... not ... insane ..."

What? Insane?! Of course I wasn't insane! I felt a shadow cross over my face, and again, I tried to twist to see what it was. My heavy body refused to move, so my dry, sore eyes went instead. Two people stood over me. A man and a woman. Both wore white coats (white, I tell you!), with strange looking instruments hanging around their necks.

The female lifted the instrument from her neck, while the male suddenly unclasped part of the strange, restraining white sweater I wore. I gasped sharply as cold metal pressed to my bare chest. My heart pounded desperately. The hissing of the cap over my mouth increased rapidly, and something started to beep in the corner. This wasn't right.

This was not right at all.

"Erik Destler."

The voice startled me - it came from another female in the corner, hidden from my eyes. Her voice was ugly. Scratchy, and low. "It is the year 2020."

I think I started off the table, for several pairs of hands were suddenly holding me down. How many people were there?! My heavy eyes would not open enough to allow me to see them.

"You have been taken from your home for certain... issues, concerning what goes on inside your head. Do not worry - we will not harm you in any way."

What was this inane woman droning on about now? Surely, she knew she wasn't talking to a child...

" - where you'll be comfortable in your own room."

The table suddenly moved beneath me, and the cap over my mouth loosened slightly. Someone's hand, soft and smooth, gently came to press it down over my mouth and nose further, and I managed to open my eyes enough to watch the door open, and a white hallway stretch before us in a long, plain journey.

"... not ... insane ... no ..."

My eyes rolled back in my skull at that point, and I darkness came - a welcome relief from all the white.

* * *

"How do you think he'll do, Evie?"

A scruffy bearded man stood beside me, one hand pressed to our newest patients shoulder as the small group of people carried him on a cot towards a small, hidden door. My hand trembled lightly over his face mask as I peered down at the sleeping man. His mask had been removed. The poor thing...

"As well as anyone can hope."

* * *

**((Bam! Powerful start, I hope.**

**Ah, little mistake in the first chapter... it should be 'Prologue', not 'Epilogue'. My mistake!**

**Enjoy! Read and review, if you so please. ))**


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